Belügyminisztérium III. Főcsoportfőnökség | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1956 |
Preceding agencies |
|
Dissolved | January 1990 |
Type | Secret police |
Jurisdiction | Hungary |
Status | Disbanded after 1990 |
Parent agency | Ministry of Interior (Hungary) |
Department III of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Hungarian: Belügyminisztérium III. Főcsoportfőnökség),[1][2] also known as the State Security Department of the Ministry of Interior (Hungarian: Belügyminisztérium Állambiztonsági Szervek),[1] was the secret police of the Hungarian People's Republic after the State Protection Authority (AVH) was disbanded in 1956. The MIA III was called the AVH as a derogatory name due to the former replacing the latter in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[3]
Archived data related to the AVH and MIA III are made available through the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security.[4]
For the most part, under the goulash Communism system Department III operated with somewhat more restraint than other secret police agencies in the Communist world, and certainly more so than the ÁVH. However, it was still a feared tool of government control.